UK Willing To Put "Boots On The Ground And Planes In The Air" To Defend Ukraine Peace Deal
Starmer hosted a defence summit in London today
3 min read
A European "coalition of the willing" including the UK is ready to defend Ukraine militarily in the event of a peace deal, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said following a meeting of leaders in London.
In attendance at the defence summit on Sunday afternoon was the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, alongside leaders from countries including France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Canada, Finland, and Romania.
In total, there were 19 world leaders present at the London defence summit today, including Starmer.
Speaking to reporters inside Lancaster House after the summit was completed, Starmer said the UK was willing to put "boots on the ground and planes in the air" to defend any future Ukraine peace deal.
The PM said the UK and other European countries were ready to form a "coalition of the willing" — a commitment to defend Ukraine militarily if a peace deal with Russia is agreed.
The prime minister said it was important to "learn from the mistakes of the past", adding "we cannot accept a weak deal like Minsk, which Russia can breach with ease".
The Minsk agreements were signed in 2014 in an effort to end the Donbas war.
"Our starting point must be to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position now so that they can negotiate from a position of strength," Starmer said.
Starmer said that world leaders had agreed to a number of steps on Sunday to secure peace in Ukraine.
In the event of a peace deal being reached, Starmer said European leaders "will keep boosting Ukraine's own defensive capabilities to deter any future invasion". He was clear that "every nation must contribute to that in the best way that it can", and "stepping up their own share of the burden".
"We will go further to develop a coalition of the willing to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee the peace. Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back."
"Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others, Europe must do the heavy lifting. But to support peace in our continent, and to succeed this effort must have strong US backing."
Starmer said the UK aimed to work with Ukraine and other European governments on producing the terms of a possible peace deal that they will then share with the US.
The prime minister said that having spoken to US President Donald Trump on Saturday night, he believed that this course of action could secure American support.
The European leaders will meet again "very soon" to keep the pace, Starmer said.
Starmer also today announced a new deal to allow Ukraine to use £1.6bn of UK export finance to buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles.
The prime minister said the missiles will be made in Belfast, "creating jobs in our brilliant defence sector".
It comes just a day after the UK announced a new £2.6bn loan for Ukraine linked to frozen Russian assets.
It has been reported that the Baltic states — who were not invited to the summit — were "very unhappy" not to have been included in Sunday's talks. In a call, Starmer reiterated that "Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are key partners of the UK".
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen told reporters inside Lancaster House that there is a "need to re-arm Europe", and the continent must "step up massively" and have a "surge in defence".
"Member states need more fiscal space to do a surge in defence."
Starmer visited the White House on Thursday, where Trump accepted an invitation for a second state visit to the UK. Starmer's trip to the US followed an announcement on Tuesday that defence spending will increase to 2.5 per cent by 2027.
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